Cardiac rate and hyperkinetic rhythm disorders in healthy elderly subjects: evaluation by ambulatory electrocardiographic monitoring.

We performed 24-hour ambulatory electrocardiographic (Holter) examinations in 50 retired hospital workers (30 men, 20 women), aged 58-85 years (mean age +/- SD: 65.9 +/- 4.6 years), with a normal clinical history, physical examination and baseline ECG. There was a significant difference between daytime and nocturnal mean heart rates (79.2 +/- 8.4 vs. 65.3 +/- 7.8 beats per minute), and between maximal (122.4 +/- 15.6 vs. 99.9 +/- 13.7) and minimal (57.9 +/- 10.8 vs. 51.3 +/- 8.0) diurnal and nocturnal heart rates. 92% of the subjects were shown to have supraventricular extrasystoles (SVE) in the 24 h recording, with 16% having more than 100 SVE/h. 68% had ventricular extrasystoles (VE), but only 6% had more than 100 VE/h. SVE were mainly diurnal, and VE were equally distributed between day and night. No other rhythm disturbances were found in this group of healthy elderly individuals.